History Main / SpaceMines

SpaceIsAnOcean and sometimes your SpaceNavy needs to block access to a [[SpaceStation port]], a space lane, or even an entire planet. How to do this? Why, SpaceMines, of course. These are like their [[SeaMine seagoing counterparts]], but ''IN SPAAAAACE!!!''

In real life, there would be some [[FridgeLogic major limitations]] to this trope. However, since SpaceMines seem to be an ubiquitous part of [[SpaceOpera Space Operas]], sometimes the savvy writer thinks of the above limitations and writes around them - and real-life applications have even been discussed in military circles.

* Sea mines are deployed under water, greatly complicating the task of detecting and clearing them. SpaceMines, however, are completely exposed, and easily detected since spaceships have to be able to detect debris of sufficient size to cause damage by impact. Unless there were some sort of mitigating factor (sensory disruption, cloaked mines, etc.) space ships could just pick them off with long range guns/lasers/missiles/decoys/whatever. May be partially justified by the fact that, unlike enemy ships, they can be inert, dormant and undistinguishable from generic space debris until they're close enough to strike.

* While most science fiction applications of SpaceMines are ridiculous in practical application (see the [[Fridge/SpaceMines fridge logic page]]), it might be feasible to set up SpaceMines in certain high-traffic orbitals, e.g. geosynchronous orbit. Other targets would be those used in an orbital insertion after launch from a major ground-based spaceport. You could also position them at Lagrange points due to their use in the Interplanetary Transport Network.

[[SpaceIsAnOcean Space is, of course, an ocean]]. And sometimes your SpaceNavy needs to block access to a [[SpaceStation port]], a space lane, or even an entire planet. How to do this? Why, SpaceMines, of course. These are like their [[SeaMine seagoing counterparts]], but ''IN SPAAAAACE!!!''

Just like there are several types of [[SeaMine Sea Mines]], so there are also many types of SpaceMines. Most common are proximity mines, that go off when a ship gets too near, and contact mines that go off when they hit a ship's hull. Magnetic mines are attracted to metal hulls. Homing mines are essentially missiles that sit around until they detect a ship's engine or weapon energy signature, then angle themselves at the target and let fly. Some mines are miniature weapons platforms that open fire when ships get too close. Remote-detonated mines can be set off by a waiting vessel when a target ship gets in range. Nuclear mines have nuclear warheads in them. Then there are mines that rob ships of power (dampening fields) instead of just exploding. There are many other variations and combinations.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[AsteroidMiners Space Mining operations]], mining valuable materials from [[AsteroidThicket asteroids]] or other planets InSpace

** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' has a minefield surrounding the headquarters of Section 31. It's a relatively small target, the mines of everywhere, and they are self-guided, so getting past is not an easy feat.

* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "The Serpent's Venom" takes place in a space minefield where the mines all lock onto any sign of weapons and fly into it, exploding on impact. This region of space was used by the Goa'uld as a neutral meeting place. SG-1 has to reprogram a mine to attack one of the Goa'uld ships at the meeting, in order to instigate a conflict. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, their plan [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires badly]]. Instead of starting conflict between the two Goa'uld, Apophis destroys his nephew Heru'ur's ship and uses a fleet of cloaked Ha'taks he brought to protect his flagship from the mines. He ends up absorbing Heru'ur's remaining forces into his own empire]].

* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "The Serpent's Venom" takes place in a space minefield where the mines all lock onto any sign of weapons and fly into it, exploding on impact. This region of space was used by the Goa'uld as a neutral meeting place. SG-1 has to reprogram a mine to attack one of the Goa'uld ships at the meeting, in order to instigate a conflict. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, their plan [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires badly]]. Instead of starting a long, drawn-out battle between the two Goa'uld, Apophis destroys his nephew Heru'ur's ship and uses a fleet of cloaked Ha'taks he brought to protect his flagship from the mines. He ends up absorbing Heru'ur's remaining forces into his own empire]].

* In ''Webcomic/CommanderKitty'', [[SpaceStation Zenith Central]] [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/05/01/out-of-the-frying-pan/ unleashes these on our heroes]]. Oddly enough, [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2012/02/23/the-cat-with-the-plan/ despite being refereed to as mines]], they actually seem closer to AttackDrones as they fire lasers instead of explode. [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2011/06/20/a-way-with-the-ladies/ Fortunately for our heroes]], they're also [[ArtificialStupidity dumb as bricks]] and [[AIBreaker can be fooled by flying backwards]].

* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "The Serpent's Venom" takes place in a space minefield where the mines all lock onto any sign of weapons, which is used by the Goa'uld as a neutral meeting place. SG-1 has to reprogram a mine to attack one of the Goa'uld ships at the meeting, in order to instigate a conflict. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, their plan [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires badly]], instead of leaving the system, Apophis destroys his nephew Heru'ur's ship and use a fleet of cloaked Ha'taks he brought to protect his flagship from the mines. He ends up absorbing Heru'ur's remaining forces into his own empire]].

*** "Booby Trap". The Enterprise enters an asteroid belt that contain "acceton assimilators", mines which drain the ship's power, convert it to deadly radiation and beam it at the ship.
*** "Chain of Command Part II". An Enterprise shuttlecraft is used to lay mines in the [=McAllister=] C-5 Nebula, trapping the Cardassian ships hiding inside it. In this case, the ships were already present, so the mines just had to be placed near/on them.
** Unfortunately "Redemption, Part II" plays the 2-D minefield mistake straight.

[[quoteright:250:[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minefield_796.jpg]]]][[SpaceIsAnOcean Space is, of course, an ocean]]. And sometimes your SpaceNavy needs to block access to a [[SpaceStation port]], a space lane, or even an entire planet. How to do this? Why, SpaceMines, of course. These are like their [[SeaMine seagoing counterparts]], but ''IN SPAAAAACE!!!''

* Everything with mass has gravity. In space, little things that are relatively close to each other tend to clump up -- this is how planets and stars are born, and why there are no {{Asteroid Thicket}}s. The mines would need some way to fight or negate the effects of gravity on each other that also wouldn't run out of fuel.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[AsteroidMiners Space Mining operations]], mining valuable materials from [[AsteroidThicket asteroids]] or other planets InSpace

* A number of space mines appear in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], where they are particularly useful when placed along the exit points of hyperspace routes. Besides the usual exploding types, [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]] encountered a variant that used a gravity well generator to snatch fighters from hyperspace before triggering an ion pulse to disable them.

* [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Space_mine Space mines]] appear often in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], both in novels and in the games.

* In ''TourOfTheMerrimack: The Myriad'', there are mines surrounding the entrance of the wormhole to Origin.

* ''VideoGame/SpacePiratesAndZombies'' also the player to drop mines as a weapon. What you're really dropping is a cloaked dispenser that will scatter a limited area with cloaked mines that are attracted to your hull. One type of side-mission involves entering minefields to recover cargo though.

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The Tothian minefield in ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' provides a rather dangerous shelter for the ''Protector'' when "Taggart" and his crew find themselves outgunned by Sarris. It [[ChekhovsGun comes into play again]] in the finale, when they use it to pull a variant on the WronskiFeint against Sarris' ship: [[spoiler: the magnetic mines trail behind the ship, and Sarris runs straight into them]]. Averts the usual problem with space mines in that the field has enough layers to cover a significant portion of space (enough to look like a nebula from a distance which is why they fly into it in the first place), though still woefully small in the grand scale of things.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[Franchise/StarTrekNovelVerse novel verse]], the Gorn Hegemony makes use of these, and fields specialized mine-launcher ships. One such vessel causes trouble for the Literature/StarfleetCorpsOfEngineers in the story “Where Time Stands Still”.

* A number of space mines appear in the ''Franchise/Starwars'' [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], where they are particularly useful when placed along the exit points of hyperspace routes. Besides the usual exploding types, [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]] encountered a variant that used a gravity well generator to snatch fighters from hyperspace before triggering an ion pulse to disable them.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "Matters of Honor", we see a Centauri minefield deployed to interdict access to a planet. This minefield actually consists of orbiting weapon platforms that fire on intruding starships instead of merely exploding when they get within range.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''

* The ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "The Serpent's Venom" takes place in a space minefield where the mines all lock onto any sign of weapons, which is used by the Go'a'uld as a neutral meeting place. SG-1 has to reprogram a mine to attack one of the Go'a'uld ships at the meeting, in order to instigate a conflict. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, their plan [[GoneHorriblyWrong backfires badly]], instead of leaving the system, Apophis destroys his nephew Heru'ur's ship and use a fleet of cloaked Ha'taks he brought to protect his flagship from the mines. He ends up absorbing Heru'ur's remaining forces into his own empire]].
* ''Series/BlakesSeven''

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* In ''{{Inhuman}}'', the whole planet Hekshano is cordoned with a minefield. Some pilots have races in there.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

So yeah, some degree of TruthInTelevision.

* In ''AnotherCenturysEpisode'' (the original), one mission (loosely based on ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'', mentioned above) has you clearing out a minefield so Relena Peacecraft can make a goodwill visit to the colonies.

* ''{{Freelancer}}'' has a few minefields, which have their own haunting ambience theme whenever the player is near or within one. These minefields are less like a field of mines and more like a thick, spherical meshwork of explosives, which kill any intruding spacecraft[[note]] that aren't using cheats[[/note]] ''very'' quickly.

* In the Franchise/StarTrekNovelVerse, the Gorn Hegemony makes use of these, and fields specialized mine-launcher ships. One such vessel causes trouble for the Literature/StarfleetCorpsOfEngineers in the story “Where Time Stands Still”.
** The Cheka, a race appearing in the Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch, employ space mines during a battle in the novel ''This Gray Spirit''.
* A number of space mines appear in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse, where they are particularly useful when placed along the exit points of hyperspace routes. Besides the usual exploding types, [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Wraith Squadron]] encountered a variant that used a gravity well generator to snatch fighters from hyperspace before triggering an ion pulse to disable them.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] [[AsteroidMiners Space Mining operations]], mining valuable materials from [[AsteroidThicket asteroids]] or other planets InSpace.

* [=AKVs=] in TranshumanSpace are not exactly mines, but similar enough: they are AI-controlled missiles that can float in ambush until a [[InsistentTerminology craft]] flies near and then attack.

* Also possible in ''SinsOfASolarEmpire'', mixing two of the above excuses with 2D Space, and direct lines of approach to separate gravity wells.

** ''StarWarsRebelAssault II'' and ''RogueSquadron II'' also have space minefield levels.

* ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' has Porcupine Space Mines (proximity, limited homing); there were also turret mines (miniature laser platforms), high explosive contact mines and viral mines (broadcast virus-infested transmissions to infect and shut down ship computer systems).